Power converter
AssigneeMicrosemi Corporation
InventorSanjaya Maniktala
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Abstract
LLC power converters are disclosed that operate in the soft switching region and are defined by a range of frequencies within which soft switching occurs. The LLC power converters include an LLC tank circuit in which the values of the inductors and the capacitors are scaled by a frequency scaling factor and a power scaling factor based on selected design parameters for the LLC power converter. The switching frequency of the disclosed LLC power converters can be varied by an output voltage to switching frequency controller.
Claims16
An LLC tank circuit with a design maximum input voltage and design output voltage, the LLC tank circuit, comprising:
- a first inductor;
- a second inductor electrically coupled in series with the first inductor;
- and
- a capacitor electrically coupled in series with the first inductor and the second inductor,
- wherein values of the first inductor, the second inductor, and the capacitor are selected such that the design output voltage is maintained over a range of input voltages from at least 65% to 100% of the design maximum input voltage with an efficiency of at least 90% at maximum design load over the input voltage range 65%-100%.
An LLC converter stage with a design maximum input voltage and design output voltage, the LLC converter stage comprising:
- an output voltage to switching frequency controller;
- a first inductor;
- a second inductor electrically coupled in series to the first inductor;
- and
- a capacitor electrically coupled in series with the first inductor and the second inductor,
- wherein values of the first inductor, the second inductor, and the capacitor are selected such that the design output voltage is maintained over a range of input voltages from at least 65% to 100% of the design maximum input voltage, with an efficiency of at least 90% at maximum design load over the input voltage 65%-100%.
A method of operating an LLC tank circuit, comprising:
- selecting values for an LLC kernel that includes:
- a first inductor;
- a second inductor electrically coupled in series with the first inductor;
- and
- capacitor electrically coupled in series with the first inductor and the second inductor,
- wherein values of the first inductor, the second inductor, and the capacitor are selected such that the design output voltage is maintained over a range of input voltages from at least 65% to 100% of the design maximum input voltage with an efficiency of at least 90% at maximum design load over the input voltage range 65%-100%;
- adjusting values of the first inductor, the second inductor, and the capacitor by a frequency scaling factor that is a ratio of a maximum frequency of the kernel and a minimum frequency of the kernel;
- and
- further adjusting the frequency adjusted values of the first inductor, the second inductor, and the capacitor by a power scaling factor that is a ratio of a peak power output of the kernel at maximum line and a peak power output when the maximum design load is applied to the kernel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.